, external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n“And it worked. From the outside, things looked great. I continued to achieve tennis milestones that far exceeded my expectations, my ranking was rising, my level continued to improve, I continued to get faster and more athletic on the court, and I looked to be the strongest, fittest version of myself I had ever been.”<\/p>\n
Yet the warning signs were there. She lost about 14kg in weight during 2023 and 2024, and her breakthrough WTA Tour victory at the Hobart International, Australia proved a bittersweet moment.<\/p>\n
“I was off. I was experiencing emotions I had never experienced before, at least not to this severity. Irritability, frustration, perfectionism, worry, and bizarrely for me, anger,” she added.<\/p>\n
“I remember feeling deep internal anger on the court that week in Hobart, like I wanted to smash every racket in my bag (something I had never done or wanted to do). <\/p>\n
“Everything began to annoy me. My team, other people, anything that didn’t align with my specific preferences or routines, any imperfection on the court, every mistake, every point I lost. But I tried my hardest to not let people see how I felt, to keep it together. Additionally, I was hungry. Every hour of the day, I was hungry.”<\/p>\n
Navarro, went on to explain how she had struggled with “headaches, dizziness, brain fog, fatigue, anxiousness and mood swings” through 2025, before meeting with doctors and nutritionists and various specialists, and realising she had been under-fueling for almost the entire period. <\/p>\n
While she is missing the Asian swing as part of her recovery for next season, she added: “I gained some weight this year. But I also gained my life back. I have enough energy to seize every day, to train or compete as hard as I want to, and to live a life outside of tennis.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n